SITXENV001A

Participate in environmentally sustainable work practices

Overview

What do you think of when you hear the words 'environmental sustainability', 'carbon footprint', 'global warming', 'greenhouse emissions', 'ecological change' or 'grey water'?

What is your understanding of the current environmental state of our planet? More importantly, what are you doing to improve its current state?

You may already recycle, use green shopping bags, use environmentally friendly cleaning products, or have a water tank and solar panels, but is this enough? Though these are all things that help us to live more sustainably, there is a lot more we must do. Why? Because the earth cannot sustain the current human consumption rate. It takes about one year and four months for the Earth to regenerate what we use in a single year.

So, what do the terms 'sustainability', 'global warming' and 'footprints' mean? They mean your future: being aware of the direct and indirect impact you have on the environment in every aspect of your life – personal and professional.

Hospitality establishments are great offenders in wasting resources. You can make a difference in your workplace by being aware of environmentally hazardous practices and recommending solutions to management. This unit will teach you why this is important, the practices to look out for, and suggestions for improvement.